I think I might have a job ;o
 

Basically theres a few complications.

Firstly the job is working in Japan from September until September teaching english.

You get paid about £20000 for the year, I havent looked at the full details yet as im not too sure if I want the job. I thought id apply for a laugh and then went to the interview. But it looks as though I got it.

But heres the problem, firstly this job isnt really a career or a job as its in Japan teaching english to japs. It also means that when I return to september I will most likely be unemployed as I wont be able to attend interviews etc as I will be in Japan. So it will just be delaying my inevitable "signing on" by a year.

The other problem is that my dad expects me to go and get a super duper job like his. Im not as cool as him so I kinda didnt apply to many places which have "super duper sell your soul and work 70 hour weeks but hey your paid a billion dollars a year jobs" But instead I applied here and there, in all honesty I was thinking of graduating, working for my mum for 3 months and then work in a pub as well. Get together about £400 a week and start doing some serial saving. Then after the 3 months keep the pub jub and maybe get another job or jack in the pub job and sign on. Anyhooo...my idea was to apply for tons of jobs next year.

Back to my dad I havent actually told him about this job and while it doesnt really matter that much it would be nice to have him support me if I did choose to take this job (both emotionally and financially)

My mum is all kosher with it. Also back to my dad he has disappeared. Where I dont know but hes gone off the face of this earth or at least he isnt replying to emails with his blackberry and his phone is off. When I phoned my mum to ask where he was she gave me the simple answer of "No Idea" and carried on speaking. Anyway I cant tell him atm so why really worry.

Finally shall I take this job? Im thinking 50/50 atm. On the one hand it would be interesting to work/live in Japan. However on the other hand abandoning everything I know (and love) for a year would be hard.

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

I think your dad would be keen on the idea given what you've said above. Going away and living on your own for a year in a country that's a million miles away from home (in terms of distance and culture) looks very good to prospective employers.

It's a once in a lifetime opportunity and if you think you could put up with life away from home for a while I think you should do it. If you want to of course.

Is this one of the situations where deep down you really know what you want to do but want other people to come to the same decision? If so, **** what other people think - do what you want to do.

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

Japan is an expensive country*, I'm not sure £20k would afford you much of a lifestyle. You certainly wouldn't be visiting many of the better Geisha Houses on a regular basis.

On the upside there is the common perception that Japanese men have small penises and that their ladies have a preference for foreign men. Chika's the guy to ask about all that I guess, I was only there briefly.

*certainly the large urban areas at least.

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

Not at all im really 50/50 part of me wants to go and do something different, unique etc but theres also a part of me who wants to stay in the comforts of home. The latter part of me though is probably the bit I shouldnt allow to make decisions. We will see I dont have to tell them until the end of june so ill do my exams first ;o

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

true ;/ 20k wont go far, but it wouldnt go far in london either although I could manage I reckon especially considering id be working in the summer ish

thats what I heard *g*

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

I might just be ignorant, but do you know the language/culture? It's quite different, and if you don't it could be difficult! I assume you do.
If you go for a year, it'll be a big plus applying to other jobs, as Japan is quite important in some areas of the business world, and the fact you'll have knowledge of an extra language and culture would tip the balance in many job applications where you're otherwise equal.

While cost of living might be high in general, electrical goods are cheaper. If you get things that aren't specific to some zone thing, then it'd be pretty cool in terms of getting nice cheap stuff (and sending it home [/hint])

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

Well on the language thing you dont have to speak japanese hence why I got through I guess. I think I could tackle it two ways either learn the language or be British ie shout very loudly in a voice much like Yahwes.

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

b) only works if you have a bowler hat and umbrella.
like Yahwe.

How are you going to teach English if you don't know Japanese to talk to the students?
and what age group are you teaching?

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

Im not sure tbh, but apparently its conversational work. So you speak to them in english and they speak back in english or something. Apparently they can be any age from kids to housewives.

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

I just thought I'd insert this joke.
This is incase you encounter it - at least you'll know what the girl meant without having to play golf to have it explained to you.

The Other Hole

An American businessman is in Japan. The Japanese businessmen take him out, get him drunk, and send him upstairs with a hooker.
As he's ****ing her, she starts screaming, "Nashagai ana! Nashagai ana!" He's going, "Yeah, baby, take it all..." He keeps pumping, and she keeps screaming, "Nashagai ana! Nashagai ana!"
The next day he's playing golf with one of the Japanese guys, and he slices the ball, and it goes way off to the right. The Japanese businessman says, "Nashagai ana."
The American says, "What does that mean?" He says, "Wrong hole."


To be honest, I'm not good at adventure stuff so if it were up to me I wouldn't go, but it could be quite interesting.
negotiate on the salary?
tbh, I'd get more information on it before accepting - where you're going to be, hours, accomodation, language/culture issues - are you going to be working with Japanese people or are there going to be a group of brits teaching English?
and so on.
I'm sure you already have some of it

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

Someone at my work did this for two years (and they didn't speak Japanese at all at the start either). They enjoyed it but found the experience a little strange - Japan is a bit of a bizarre culture in some ways apparently.

Personally I wouldn't do it, since I wouldn't want to leave my life on hold for that long. But it's good work experience all the same and you'll no doubt have many crazy stories to tell...

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

I have to go to a workshop in london sometime in June to get the full details so I guess I wont really know the exact details until then.

Thinking about it though imagine my dads face when he found out the day before I was off to Japan for a year. That would be priceless.

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

"This one time in birmingham...."
I can see them doing well :-)

My cousin's gf spent a year there - she studied japanese at degree level and went there for a year out - and tbh some of their customs are very different.

They're far more polite in some ways.

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

I would take it if I was you. You could end up spending the next year on the dole or working as bar staff in a pub which more serious jobs may see as you dossing around.

Your going to get a a unique experiance, you will pick up some of the language which is a bonus and if nothing else it will make a good topic of conversation in interviews.

And all your current options I would imagine will still be there in a years time

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

I don't think you really want to go, but you think your dad would like you to be the sort of person who would go, and pleasing your dad seems to be important to you.

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

Well, I more meant stories to tell when he got back home of how he was deported after two and a half week for getting his nob out on the Tokyo Subway while singing "There's only one Aston Villa..." to anyone who would listen.

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

I've got a friend who worked there as a langauge teacher.. Canadian guy, really cool guy.

Firstly; if you get a position out of the major cities, people are *really*, *really* ridicilously friendly. You won't have any trouble with anything ever (atleast as far as food, getting sick, getting housing etc goes).

Secondly; the students drove him crazy. "Never ask for help", "Never admit you don't know","Never ask to explain more clearly" etc. Everything had to be dragged out of them.

Thirdly; they use their wacked up system for spelling english with japanese characters, so the english they wasn't intelligeble *ever*. If you're not explisitly hired for teaching real english, you problably have to learn their english in order to communicate with them; he did.

In short , don't expect to be able to communicate *at all* with Japanse english teachers at normal'ish schools.

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

No my dad wouldnt want me to go, he would want me to become a corporate sellout or something. This is the last thing he would want me to do, im pretty sure of it.

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

ok, I just assumed he'd see it as a once-in-a-lifetime adventure you'd regret for the rest of your life if you turned down, as I seem to remember his encouragement for you to go to uni was similar.

surely you mean "aston virra" :rolleyes:

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

Ive been deported from a country before, Monaco. Was my proudest moment, driven to the great country of France and told the train station was 12km up that road.

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

From this page

This coming from the bloke that looks like this

Hahahahahahahahahaha...

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

Would this be with the JET program? Because that's something I'm really considering doing when I finish Uni. Also, if you like it you can stay for a maximum of 3 years

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

This isnt JET this is some corportate mega scum company who will probably take anyone.

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

The Japanese attitudes to alcohol , sex , and women in particular, will suit you down to the ground Mr Pig.

Alas, youll be in jail inside a week :)

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

Go Go Go :up:

You'll proberbly be crying to get home at the end, but it's worth it

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

I'm going to be doing the same thing in Spain, but I'll only get paid £400 per month :(

Although its only 12 hours work a week so I could get another job or I could just chill out with my student loan :)

Do they sort out accomadation and that sort of thing for you? Bank accounts et al. if you don't speak the language that will be a big obstacle for you there.

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

I think you should go for it if that's what you want. Teaching them english might not be so interesting, but living in Japan for a year will be a life experience imo.

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

This thread depressed me.

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

So you've settled back into your old routine already then eh?




Piggy, go for it. You'll get less and less chances to do something like this the older you get. And if you utterly hate the job(or the place) when you're there you can always just quit and return back home.
Seems like an oppertunity to get to experience a place and culture most of us won't, and get paid for it.

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

I just don't see why pig should have tons of sex and motivation and money while I get the shit end of the stick in terms of all those things.

I can't even get a job ffs.

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

Given that your other short term plans are 'signing on the dole', and 'working in your mums pub'', it seems like a fairly good idea.

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

would you have to pay any tax?

(i expect stew to know.)

(hell. who am i kidding? ask chunderbunny. accountants never know the answer to the question they just waffle useless crap and try to bill you)

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

stew doesnt work in tax, he works in audit :o

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

I shall compose the look that I would give to a plumber who had replied "yeah mate. i don't work in pipes. I work in tubes"

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

But I am currently revising for my tax exam.
As a UK resident he is liable to pay taxes on 'worldwide taxable income'.
He may also have to pay Japanese tax but if this is the case there will be 'Double Taxation Relief'.

So to answer the question, tax will have to be paid, but I'm not sure which government to. (I was in hospital on the day this was taught :()

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

See, lawyers and accountants do have a lot in common.

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

One of my friends from school/college graduated from oxford last year and is actually doing a similar (possibly same scheme,) I havent talked to him in a while but as far as I know he is enjoying it and he didnt know japanese when he left

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

he'll be a japanese resident.

If I were being billed £90 an hour for your services I would take issue. I am to become the scourage of capitalism.

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

I didn't read that he went in September - had it have been October (i.e. 183 days after) would he be a UK citizen?
I do not work in the tax department as Nodrog pointed out.
Nor am I qualified yet.

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

then why reply?

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

If you're going to work as a teacher in Japan I expect you have already read this?

If not, do.

http://www.outpostnine.com/editorials/teacher.html

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

Ask yourself the questions:
- Are you likely to ever get a chance to do something like this again?
- What's going to look better when applying for 'proper' jobs, a year in Japan or a year behind a bar or on the dole?
- Which is your dad more likely to approve of (not that it really matters) between you spending a year doing something unique, interesting and potentially good for the CV, or a year behind a bar / on the dole? You seem to suggest that he wants you to get some sort of super-duper job, barman at The King's Head doesn't seem to fit the bill.

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

It might also be worth asking the question:

Will I enjoy this?

Don't go if you don't want to is my advice.

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

If he said he got deported for that, he's lying.

Getting your 'nob out' in public here is common custom. Once, outside my work, during rush hour 'get to work on time for morning stretching exercises', one of the old guys who works in the factory pulls his nob out and starts urinating in the drainage ditch next to work. He doesn't even find a private spot to do it, he doesn't even make sure he's on the side facing away from the road... Out it comes, not a care in the world.

Another time, sitting on a train, some obnoxious old guy (who kept on asking the ticket guy banal questions every minute, spitting and clearing his throat as loudly as possible, and just generally being a twat), when the train starts up to leave, shouts 'stop, wait a moment please', gets off the train, whips it out, and starts pissing....

...On the bloody train platform.

Another time, I was drunk in a bar with only one toilet. This toilet has a single urinal, then a western style sit-down toilet, in a room next to it. So there was two locks and two doors to get to the sit-down toilet. I went in to use the urinal (assuming it was free because the 1st door was unlocked), and proceeded to relieve myself... Then the room toilet flushes and out walks a girl, she doesn't even bat an eyelid at, walks over to the sink and starts washing her hands. When she finishes, she proceeds to start making small talk with me! Asking about my job, and my hobbies, all while I'm trying to take a piss!

Theres plenty of other stories, but I can't really recall them at the moment, plus I'm in work....

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

Also, you wont be teaching English, you'll be teaching 'Japanese English', an odd Creole that exists due to the vast lacuna that exists between our language and theirs, the massively different cultural values and prevailing attitudes in schools of 'we will teach you English that will make you successful in JAPAN'.

Saying that, the plus side is you could end up learning to communicate better. Hell, you might even be like the 0.00001% of foreigners here who can speak Japanese. I have new found skills in English-Japanese (that odd creole that exists due to foreigners living in Japan; it's strange that I can understand, almost perfectly, any Japanese foreigners speak), miming, fluency in Japanese-English, onomatopeia (Japanese and English) and the ability to agree with absolutely everything someone older than me says.

And yes, as someone kind of mentioned earlier, pronunciation is often strange due to the quite restricting syllabary that the Japanese language has, and the insistance of shoehorning any foreign words that are brought into the language into said syllabary. E.g. Mafura... Means a cars muffler (or can mean a scarf, goodness knows which language that came from). Or one for you pig, sekkusu...

All said and done, I'm having fun. If you have any questions about the place pig, ask away.

re: taxes. I pay Japanese tax, I pay no UK tax. I'm still classed as a student in the UK, however. IIRC the figure most eikaiwa (english conversation schools) quote is an after tax figure. I am not aware of any foreigners here who are also paying tax in their own country.

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Chunderbunny again.

;/

Thanks though Ill ask you any questions if I have any on irc

:up:

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

i have a friend out there at the moment doing something very similar, he is quite happy about the money he is getting as they are paying his room/board, so you may want to have a look into that as well mate

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

I want to do this at some point after I've got my teaching induction year out of the way. I've done some research into it.

Firstly, it's a great way of saving money - £20k isn't that much, but a lot of these Japanese teaching courses will pay for your accommodation and travel over there and back.

There are also plenty of other British people usually on the course with you, so it's not like just being flung into Japan and not knowing anything or anybody. On the other hand - apparently getting places in the cities is quite difficult, as they're sought after. You might end up in some remote village :(

I'm not sure if I'd want to do it straight after uni though - it's something I'd maybe do after a year of temping or just building up some cash and adapting to non-student life.

It's your choice piglet - your dad shouldn't be against it as it's only a year of your life. It also gives you an advantage over other interviewees in the same position as yourself (ie: straight out of uni) when you come back, as you'll be able to have examples of when you showed leadership, worked in a team etc etc that they always ask.

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

Oh - on the tax front.

I think that you won't have to pay UK tax as long as you spend less than 60 days (don't quote me on the figure) in the UK. So you can come back for holidays or whatever, as long as you can prove that you weren't there for more than 60 days in the year.

I believe that's how it works. You'd be a Japanese resident.

Re: I think I might have a job ;o
 

183 days.
But then I've been proved wrong so many times recently who knows. Basically, I'm new to this stuff and only doing the more basic stuff at the moment, the complications come later.

There is another figure of 91 days that comes into play - "if an individual makes regular, habitual and substantial visits to the UK, i.e. average 91 days per fiscla year, ignoring days beyond individual's control e.e. sickness, and was previously a UK resident and now returning to th UK for visits, he counts as a UK resident for the whole fiscal year".